


In the Back of My Mind

by catbel



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Reveals light backstory components, Slight spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 14:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20391508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catbel/pseuds/catbel
Summary: Sylvain would buy a gift for a woman without batting an eye. So why in the Goddess’s name had he bought a gift for Felix?





	In the Back of My Mind

Sylvain aimlessly strolled around the market, enjoying the surprising lack of vengeful women or their brothers chasing him back to the monastery. He’d been good lately, well, at least by his standards he was being well behaved. When he wasn’t flirting with women in town, Sylvain did enjoy browsing what merchants had on display. He liked to pick up little trinkets to help butter up his latest fling. If his Crest bearing status and flowery words weren’t enough to woo a woman, then something shiny usually did the trick.

As he perused various stalls, nothing seemed to call out to him. Sylvain was about to settle for buying his usual lipstick when a glint caught his eye. He’d never seen this merchant before and felt himself drawn to further explore what was being sold. The merchant seemed to specialize in jewelry, a gift Sylvain wasn’t fond of giving. Jewelry was too intimate in Sylvain’s opinion and women often misconstrued the gift as a promise to be together forever. Didn’t matter that Sylvain was sure to never give a ring, or verbally make such a promise. In fact, he was always upfront about his habit of dating several women at once, but most of the women thought they could change him and ignored his warning. Their broken hearts were their own fault.

He was about to continue his window shopping when he saw a beautifully crafted hair clip. The clip was sleek and fashioned out of ore one usually saw in fine blades. Upon closer inspection, Sylvain noticed the amber colored gems that subtly accentuated the design. The color closely resembled Felix’s eyes and before contemplating any further, Sylvain took out his wallet and asked the merchant to wrap his purchase.

“For a special lady?” The merchant asked as he enclosed Sylvain’s purchase in a small drawstring bag.

“Yeah, we’ve been friends since we were kids,” Sylvain answered, not bothering to correct the man. Besides, just because Sylvain thought of Felix in the moment didn’t mean he’d actually give the swordsman the clip.

Sylvain knew Felix would see the gift as him being facetious instead of sincere. Felix wore his hair up since as long as he could remember, but Felix never used anything decorative to hold up his stunning dark locks. If Sylvain were being honest, Felix had some of the prettiest hair he’d seen. Hair so dark it almost appeared to be a deep indigo, while being thick and shiny like a well-groomed horse reserved for nobility.

When they were younger, Sylvain recalled Felix wearing his hair down like his father, Rodrigue. The style suited both Fraldarius men, but Sylvain knew better than to question why Felix didn’t wear his hair down. At least Felix had not been mistaken for a girl as much as Dimitri had when the three of them were growing up. Ever since a knight had called Dimitri a maiden by mistake the prince had kept his hair clean and short. As for Sylvain, well, he didn’t really have a choice. At least, he felt he didn’t have a say in the matter. He was pretty sure his father would disapprove of long hair, despite Rodrigue being their close family friend. Besides, last time Sylvain had seen his brother, Miklan, the older man’s hair almost touched his shoulders. Ever since Sylvain had found the idea of growing out his hair distasteful. 

The hair clip felt heavy in Sylvain’s pocket during his walk back to the monastery. He kept thinking he should throw it into the woods and forgot about it. He was so lost in his thoughts that Sylvain didn’t notice Felix as he passed through the stables.

“That’s what you get for rolling in the hay,” Sylvain overheard Felix chide. He stopped in his tracks, head whipping around just in time to make eye contact with the swordsman he'd been thinking about all afternoon.

Felix arched his brow, his hand running through the horse’s mane to remove hay that had become entangled. “You look like you have something you want to say,”

“Uh...” Sylvain blanked, his silver tongue at a loss for once. Part of him wished to trade places with the horse while he stared at Felix’s nimble fingers weaving through the thick mane with ease.

Felix rolled his eyes and continued to tend to the horse. “Never thought I’d see the day the cat got your tongue. Are you ill?”

“N-No, sorry I got lost in thought,” Sylvain managed to answer. His fingers fiddled with the clip in his pocket, drawing Felix’s gaze.

“What are you hiding?” Felix finished removing the last bit of hay from the horse’s mane and suspiciously eyed Sylvain.

Sylvain laughed, a bit higher pitched than usual. “Nothing! Just coming back from town and was heading for the dining hall,”

Felix walked toward Sylvain, only stopping when he was mere inches away from the redhead's face. “You’re lying. You’re usually not this horrible at it, though.” In a flash Felix’s hand thrust itself into Sylvain’s pocket and withdrew the small bag with the hair clip inside. “All this fuss for a barrette?”

“Do you like it?” Sylvain found himself asking, genuinely curious if the gift would be something Felix would like.

“I don’t see how that’s releva-”

“It’s for you,” Sylvain interrupted. “I got it for you.”

Felix’s lip curled up in clear revulsion. “Disgusting! What do you take me for? I’m not one of those easily swayed women you try to lure to bed,” Felix scoffed, his hand clenched around the bag as if he were getting ready to throw it. “Are you so insatiable that you’re resorting to coming on to anyone that walks by you? You need to think about how your actions affect others, Sylvain,”

Sylvain took a step back, he’d knew Felix wouldn’t take kindly to the gift, but he hadn't expected such a hostile response. The horse near Felix snorted, as if he were mocking Sylvain for even thinking such a gift would suit Felix.

“Felix, it’s not like that. I just...I don’t know, I saw it and thought it would suit you. Your hair is always in your face when you train,” Sylvain held out his hand so Felix could return the gift, forcing a tight smile. “I can just give it to some girl in town. Really, I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m sorry.”

When Felix didn’t put the clip in Sylvain’s hand, the redhead moved to take it; only to have the swordsman yank the gift out of reach. Without a word Felix raised his hands to the back of his head and slowly took apart his ponytail, letting his hair down.

Sylvain gaped at the rare sight. Despite the scowl on Felix’s face, he couldn’t help but find the swordsman beautiful.

Felix moved so swiftly, Sylvain found himself mesmerized. He watched as Felix gathered his bangs and parted them to the side, from there the swordsman pulled back the rest of his hair and secured it up into its usual fashion. Felix examined the clip after removing it from the decorative bag, opening and closing the fastener before combing his fingers through his bangs and securing the jeweled clip into his hair.

“Let’s go train and see if it works,” said Felix as he left the stables to head to the training grounds.

Still standing in his stupor, Sylvain realized he’d have to jog to catch up to Felix. “Hey, Felix wait for me!” He managed to catch up and smiled at the way the sun made the clip sparkle in Felix’s hair.

Maybe he’d go back and see what else the merchant had to offer next time he was in town. 

**Author's Note:**

> This game took over my life so fast that this fic was written before I even knew what happened. Recently finished Blue Lions route and am on to Golden Deer (no spoilers please). Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


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